Roof of Vienna's parliament building goes up in flames

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In Vienna's central district, giant plumes of smoke were seen billowing up from a fire on the roof of the Parliament building in the early hours of Friday morning.

Passers-by notified the fire department at around 6:45am of the blaze that had begun to take its hold on the historical government edifice.

The building was evacuated and upwards of 70 firefighters were rushed to the scene with 17 separate vehicles. According to Gerald Schimpf, a spokesman for the Vienna fire brigade, it was quickly assessed that the fire had originated in the roof's ventilation system. The cause is as of yet unknown.

The blaze was controlled within an hour and posed no disturbance to proceedings within the building. Despite the shock it sparked across social media, local authorities have assured that any damage to the building was minor. There were no injuries reported.